Strictly Come Dancing star is part of Hawth spring season

This season the Crawley theatre will have three incredible musicals gracing the stage.

In time for a perfect Valentine’s treat (February 13-18) is the timeless love story, GHOST the Musical.

Based on the iconic movie and with music and with lyrics written by Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard, this is a show not to be missed.

If the 1960s is more your era, the sensational multi award-winning West End show Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story (February 17 & 18) tells Buddy Holly’s story, from his meteoric rise to fame to his final legendary performance at The Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake.

Featuring two hours of his hits, it promises to be Peggy Sue-perb!

Menopause the Musical (March 5), starring Cheryl Fergison, Maureen Nolan, Rebecca Wheatley and Ruth Berkeley, is a hysterical show packed full of one-liners about night sweats, hot flushes and memory loss. This show is for one night only and tickets are selling quickly so hurry to be part of the fun.

Drama highlights include Ruth Rendell’s A Judgement in Stone (May 22-27) which has an all star cast including Andrew Lancel, Sophie Ward, Mark Wynter, and Anthony Costa and I am Beast (March 16), a visually stunning exploration of the power of grief and childish imagination, using original live music and life-sized puppetry.

The Hawth’s spring season also includes Lady Chatterley’s Lover (February 15), Hamlet (March 30 & 31) and Jane Eyre (April 26).

Strictly Come Dancing fans have a couple of treats in store, Brendan Cole (Feb 3) hosts another spectacular production while Strictly’s favourite couple Ian Waite and Natalie Lowe have developed a whole new show called Somewhere in Time (April 29), with newly choreographed routines of their favourite Ballroom and Latin dances.

Dance shows for younger audiences include Goldilocks and the Three Bears (April 4) and The Princess and the Frog (February 12) and there is much more on offer for family audiences with Don’t Dribble on the Dragon (February 5) featuring magic designed by Paul Daniels, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (February 22-25), The Girl and the Giraffe (March 18) and Wow! said the Owl (April 1 &2).

Families will also love Mr Bloom’s Nursery (February 28) which features the characters from the popular Cbeebies show, Dinosaur World (May 7) an interactive adventure exploring the Jurassic period and Naomi’s Wild and Scary (April 19) with CBBC presenter Naomi Wilkinson and ‘Animal Mark’ who brings along some of his most scariest creatures

Comedy is always extremely popular at The Hawth and there is a lot to tickle your funny bones this spring with big names and emerging new talent treading the boards. Coming up are Ross Noble (February 2), Josh Howie (February 17) and Stuart Goldsmith (Feb 18) and later in the season there is Rob Brydon (March 18), Iain Stirling (March 24) and Reginald D Hunter (May 3).

Live Music is an integral part of The Hawth’s programme and there is music for every taste in the spring programme.

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra makes a return visit on April 1 to play excerpts from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as music composed by Tchaikovsky and Sibelius, The Gordon Campbell Big Band (April 2) returns to delight audiences with music of the big bands with special guests Clare Teal and Matthew Ford.

There is also tribute to icons of the music industry, Phil Collins (February 4), Whitney Houston (March 3), Elton John (March 9), David Bowie (April 28) and Elvis (May 5) amongst others.

Americana Live (February 12) brings the very best in US and UK Americana Roots and Country Music to the Hawth and Acoustic Sunday (May 28) spotlights a variety of acoustic music - from pop to blues and folk to rock, both these events take place in the foyer of The Hawth and are free admission.

As always there are fantastic live screenings and exhibitions to look forward to in the Curzon Cinema from the Royal Shakespeare Company, The National Theatre and Exhibition on Screen.